tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post2416233788976895868..comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Local Texas law enforcement elections on the November ballotGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-37423083225581930712008-10-13T16:36:00.000-05:002008-10-13T16:36:00.000-05:00Dennis McKnight is the far superior choice for She...Dennis McKnight is the far superior choice for Sherrif in Bexar County. That, unfortunately, may spell his doom.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-63493745897979102962008-10-12T08:51:00.000-05:002008-10-12T08:51:00.000-05:00A white Sheriff in Bexar County? When pigs fly!!! ...A white Sheriff in Bexar County? When pigs fly!!! The 62% Hispanic population won't let it happen., even though McKnight is the BEST and logical choice for moving the Bexar County Sheriff's office foward!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-27324006857311635382008-10-10T21:05:00.000-05:002008-10-10T21:05:00.000-05:00You may recall Wiles was the runner up for the pol...You may recall Wiles was the runner up for the police chief position here in Austin over a year ago--in the eyes of the community, if not the City Manager's. You can see more about how we rated him at debmocracy.statesmanblogs.com in the "Results from the Cluster Group" chart where we compare him to whom we did hire. (fwiw, in retrospect, our rating on the 4th on our chief was too giving, meaning Wiles might have actually turned out better).<BR/><BR/>It's good to hear we were right on with our community-minded assessment with reading Mr. Venhaus' anecdote about testifying against the 48-hour rule (which we just got in our contract, darnit). That takes some real principals. <BR/><BR/>I know Texas Civil Rights Project also had good opinions of him, especially for his improvements in relations with the mentally ill.<BR/><BR/>That he wasn't as flashy and charming as our new chief ("Hollywood" I often call him) may have been the real deciding factor in it all... we might have been better off in getting community-minded policies if we'd hired him here (grass is always greener, eh, now that the 'honeymoon's over'?). <BR/><BR/>I'd think he'd make a fine Sheriff, imho -- bringing some much needed progressive law enforcement values to west Texas.Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01654599360807767386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-90490976696894169872008-10-10T19:14:00.000-05:002008-10-10T19:14:00.000-05:00I do not really have a sense of the absence in you...I do not really have a sense of the absence in your presence. Sorry I ran across your *GRITS*Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-10743770274644769922008-10-10T08:20:00.000-05:002008-10-10T08:20:00.000-05:00No contested race for sheriff in Swisher County (T...No contested race for sheriff in Swisher County (Tulia), but Sheriff Stewart chose not to run for reelection, his deputy Benavidez had no contest in the Democratic primary, and the Republicans didn't even have a primary in Swisher County this year. Interesting that while Swisher dependably votes GOP in national elections, locally it's still a one party (Democratic) county. I don't know much about our sheriff to be Benavidez. I suspect he doesn't have the Fundamentalist zeal of Sheriff Stewart, which should/could make him a little more even hand at the tiller. For those who don't know, Sheriff Stewart was one of the prime movers in the infamous Tulia drug sting. I'm glad to see him retire. I think he could have been reelected as long as he chose to run.<BR/><BR/>Thankfully, DA McEachern (another master mind/culprit in the Tulia fiasco) was defeated in the 2004 primary for his reelection run. <BR/><BR/>Charles Kiker, TuliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-71306274911856648252008-10-09T22:48:00.000-05:002008-10-09T22:48:00.000-05:00Sheriff Valdez had no previous working experience ...Sheriff Valdez had no previous working experience in a sheriff's office environment. What you see today at Dallas County SO is generally what happens when someone w/o SO experience is elected.<BR/><BR/>I'm a retired Texas deputy sheriff Texas with no dog in this fight. I know that experience as a municipal police officer alone does not qualify a person to be Sheriff.<BR/><BR/>And if you are going to run for sheriff, you should have some knowledge of basic jail standards, know that the proper name is SHERIFF"S OFFICE, not SHERIFF"S DEPARTMENT, and have some working knowledge of estray laws, bail bond procedures and civil process. <BR/><BR/>None of these traits did Sheriff Valdez have when she was first elected.<BR/><BR/>I know that Sheriff Valdez's opponents municipal police experience alone does not qualify him for this position. I've seen many people elected to this position who have no concept of the operations of a sheriff's office. And because of a lack of basic knowledge of SO operations, especially in jail operations, many people elected to this position are sued in the area of open records, strip search policies, mental health and suicide intake screening, wrongful terminations because of political preferences, and the list could go on and on and on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-26218613989565451832008-10-09T22:02:00.000-05:002008-10-09T22:02:00.000-05:00In El Paso, the Democratic primary/runoff was the ...In El Paso, the Democratic primary/runoff was the race. Stolz will be doing well if he gets 40% of the vote.<BR/><BR/>Stolz's current approach is to attempt to capitalize on a public corruption scandal and run as a reformer. He recently filed an ethics complaint against a city council representative that went nowhere.<BR/><BR/>Wiles skipped a recent debate, I assume to avoid giving Stolz any attention. <BR/><BR/>Wiles has continued to fight against the police union as a candidate/citizen. He spoke before city council against a new association contract that gives officers involved in a shooting a 48-hour waiting period before investigation and effectively eliminates the use of polygraph in internal affairs investigations.<BR/><BR/>There has been talk at the county of expansion of the jail annex, but I haven't followed it and it wasn't an issue during the campaign. <BR/><BR/>The most contentious issue was DA Esparza's DIMS program that avoids the use of a magistrate upon arrest. Under the program, a prosecutor receives a report upon arrest, decides whether to press charges, and--if charges will be pursued--sets bail. Wiles supports the plan; I do not know Stolz's position.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-50332638869208703622008-10-09T14:17:00.000-05:002008-10-09T14:17:00.000-05:00I got a survey call a few weeks ago about the Dall...I got a survey call a few weeks ago about the Dallas County sheriff's race. The questions all seemed to be testing possible ad campaigns for both candidates to see what was sticking. None of the approaches really changed my mind, although some (not jail-related) made me slightly more inclined towards Valdez. I think we're faced with a choice here of someone that's trying but not doing enough and someone that might make things worse. I can only hope it doesn't get worse before the next election, and we'll have a better choice then.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-66139356708083968592008-10-09T12:42:00.000-05:002008-10-09T12:42:00.000-05:00According to C.O. Bradford’s ex-law partner, buddy...According to C.O. Bradford’s ex-law partner, buddy and close friend's - Lloyd Kelley - online Resume, [found here: google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Flloydekelley.com%2FResume.doc&ei=tH_mSPSWL5i6gASk3MSICw&usg=AFQjCNF7-F2yDNQ8Bu19Cpo1Tfwl0F9zcw&sig2=zSXHBM-nYkcRZ7mpAG79bw] Bradford HAS ONLY practiced law for 2 YEARS (1993-95), ironically this was while he was an Assistant COP on HPD(how is that even possible?). I guess when he was named Chief he had to give that up. <BR/><BR/>After he 'retired' from HPD, he went to work for for Lee Brown’s cosulting group as a Senior Associate and NOT as a lawyer<BR/><BR/>…so I ask - WHEN DID CO BRADFORD FIND TIME TO GET ALL THE LEGAL EXPERIENCE TO RUN A CONTY LIKE HARRIS? He surly isn't trying to run for an office like DA on only 2 years of spotty law practice that was over a decade ago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-3531326347985674512008-10-09T11:39:00.000-05:002008-10-09T11:39:00.000-05:00I don't like C.O. Bradford for Harris DA. He presi...I don't like C.O. Bradford for Harris DA. <BR/><BR/>He presided over a corrupt police force he wasn't qualified to run (chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1991_791616), mismanaged police resources (khou.com/news/local/crime/stories/khou080205_tj_crimelabfollow.93752f30.html) and his subordinates (click2houston.com/news/1653402/detail.html) and then took a large chunk of taxpayer money when he left office (click2houston.com/news/2492228/detail.html).<BR/><BR/>His smile is also very creepy - see his picture. He should have ran against Thomas...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com